etwork nformation ervice - NIS) Sun Microsystems' Yellow Pages (yp) client-server protocol for distributing system configuration data such as user and host names between computers on a network. Sun licenses the technology to virtually all other Unix vendors. The name "Yellow Pages" is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom of British Telecommunications plc for their (paper) commercial telephone directory. Sun changed the name of their system to NIS, though all the commands and functions still start with "yp"

Network information service. A distributed network database containing key information about the systems and the users on the network. The NIS database is stored on the master server and all the slave servers.

Network Information Services. A mechanism that enables centralization of common data that is pertinent across multiple machines in a network. The data is collected in a domain, within which it is accessible and relevant. The most common use of NIS is to maintain user account information across a set of networked hosts.

The Network Information Service (NIS) is a distributed data lookup service for sharing information on a local area network (LAN). NIS allows you to coordinate the distribution of database information throughout your networked environment.

Network Information Service. A network naming and administration system for small networks. Using NIS, each host client or server computer in the system has knowledge about the entire system. A user at any host can get access to files or applications on any host in the network with a single user identification and password. NIS is similar to the Internet's domain name system (DNS) but somewhat simpler and designed for a smaller network.

Network Information Service. A reliable network service that provides a mapping from keys in maps to values. Some common maps include passwd for identifying and authenticating users, groups for authorizing users to access certain resources on machines, names for converting computer names to IP addresses (not commonly used, DNS is more common) NIS has lots of other possible uses, such as telephone books and any other data that is read-mostly and changes slowly.

A network naming and administration system that supplies each server and host client in the system with knowledge about the entire system. As a result, a user can apply a single identification code and password to access programs on any of the LAN’s hosts. Similar if not identical to the Web-based DNS. Originally created by Sun Microsystems, NIS is also available in freeware versions.

Network Information Service. A system of programs and data files that UNIX machines use to collect, collate, and share specific information about machines, users, file systems, and network parameters throughout a network of computers.

Formerly known as the "Yellow Pages". The Network Information System is a facility used on some TCP/IP networks to administer a group of computers (usually UNIX workstations and PCs) as though they were one big computer.

A networking software option that lets you control network information and services from a central server called the NIS master. NIS stands for Network Information Service. See also centralized network, NIS client, NIS domain, and NIS master.

Network Information Services. A set of UNIX network services (for example, a distributed service for retrieving information about the users, groups, network addresses, and gateways in a network) that resolve naming and addressing differences among computers in a network.

Network Information Service. Protocol developed by Sun Microsystems for the administration of network-wide databases. The service essentially uses two programs: one for finding a NIS server and one for accessing the NIS databases.